Techniques are described for handover decisions based on an absolute channel quality of a serving cell. For example, there is provided a method that involves generating a set of handover parameters based on a report of serving cell signal quality to avoid ping-ponging effects of an access terminal between a serving cell and another cell. A network entity receives a report regarding a serving cell signal quality from a reporting entity. A set of parameters is defined for a network event and sent to an access terminal, where the set of parameters is based at least in part on the received report. The set of parameters for the network event is sent to the access terminal.